Last Saturday The She Shepherd and I attended the close range gunfighting class from QSI Training. The class is a collection of various skills that are important when dealing with attackers at five feet or less. We learned about weapon retention, disarms, deploying a knife vs a firearm, and many other specialized skills not often covered in other courses.

One of my favorite things from this class is shooting on the ground. After being in more than a few fistfights and watching a lot of street fight footage, many fights wind up on the ground at some point. It is critical to learn how to fight from the ground back to your feet as soon as possible.

I’ve taken this class several times before, as well as similar classes from other instructors. This year I am wearing my EDC bag in every class, and I figured I would experience some new things because of it.

I also got some bonus practice thanks to a handgun malfunction.

The Drill

The drill was supposed to be this:

Fall to the ground

Draw and shoot from your back

Roll to your right and shoot

Roll to your left and shoot

Roll to your back and shoot upside down (we spun in order to keep our handguns pointed in a safe direction)

Roll to your stomach, get to your knees, and either shoot from kneeling or shoot after standing up.

As you saw in the video, the slide to my Glock 26 was stuck shut. I attempted to do a tap rack ready malfunction clearance, and the slide wasn’t going anywhere. I thought (for some reason) that maybe there was a double feed and the rounds inside the magazine were keeping the slide from moving. I removed the magazine and tried again. No luck.

At this point I decided to transition to my AR15 pistol in my backpack. I have never deployed it while lying down before, and figured I should finish the drill instead of lying there helpless.

A firearm in a holster might be safe to carry loaded with a round in a chamber inside of a bag, but I do not like to carry firearms that are not in a holster this way.

Saturday’s experience also reinforced the idea of not carrying a traditional backpack. If I had two straps on my body it would have been very difficult to move the bag to the front. I really like the sling strap style of bag, or a messenger bag, or even a satchel type bag.

It sucks to fall on a backpack, but now I know what it’s like. We fell several times in class with varying levels of force. I also know I can fall on my $800 camera without breaking it. Damn that was dumb — I should have taken it out first.

Moving on the ground with a backpack is more difficult, especially transitioning to my left side. My Adidas Rydell bag hangs mostly on the left side of my body. Have you rolled around on the ground with your EDC bag on?

Appendix carry is superior to behind the hip carry when you’re knocked on your ass. I was much faster than other students, and also did not have to worry about sweeping my body when drawing from behind the hip on the ground.

I was able to fix my handgun by grabbing the slide with my left hand, making a “V” with my right, and then striking the grip of my G26 with the V. The spent round popped out immediately, and my pistol continued to function the rest of the day.

Before I carried a firearm in a bag I used to carry two pistols. The weight put a lot of pressure on my hip bones, and since I sit most of the day it became very uncomfortable. I did this for several years, but I am more physically comfortable carrying a single pistol. I now have a knife where my second handgun used to be, and I find this to be more useful in a wider set of circumstance than two pistols up front.

However, the events in this drill demonstrate the need for a backup weapon of some kind. What is your plan if your handgun malfunctions beyond immediate remedy? Do you have another weapon that is accessible from your back or either side?

Practice makes less imperfect — get out there and find out how your gear works. 🙂

Related posts:

Short Barrel Shepherd is a regular guy and works to make Web sites and mobile apps easier for people to use. He spends his free time attending fight-focused firearm, knife, and combatives training, motorcycling, writing, and playing games. His daily carry is a Glock 19 pistol and an AR15 .300 Blackout pistol in a backpack.

QSI Close Quarters Handgun Ground Shooting Drill Malfunction

Way to power through the drill! I forgot you carry the SBR and when you got it deployed and shot the last two strings I was like “That is one loud ass pistol…” and then I look over, lol.

For the ground drill I had to change up my gear a little. I had to move my IWB double mag carrier up so I wouldn’t fall on any part of it (Trying out new clips called ULTIClips on the IWB holster and double mag carrier and they have some sharp edges.) I made that discovery during the dry run. Your pistol malfunction gave Erik an opportunity to explain how to correctly un-stick the slide (Call it the Flying V?).

Legal Disclaimer

The information presented is not legal advice, is not to be acted on as such, may not be current and is subject to change without notice.

Affiliate Disclaimer

Some product links on this site (such as Amazon) may be part of an affiliate program. The affiliate programs pay me a referral fee if you buy items as a result of clicking on the link. This is at no charge to you.

The affiliate program is in no way an endorsement of the product linked, nor is it an endorsement of the retailer selling the product(s).